Socialism In One Village

From EurasiaNet.org, a wonderful story of a village in Armenia where Communism is a way of life:

"Long Live Communism!," "Long Live Socialism!," "Long Live the Great October Revolution!" In the Armenian village of Lernamerdz, about 40 kilometers from Yerevan, communism and its triumphant proclamations are not a dim recollection. They are a way of life.

In Soviet times, there were reportedly only seven communists in Lernamerdz, a hamlet of over 500 residents. But the situation changed after Armenia gained independence in 1991, and began to dismantle monuments to communist leaders, villagers say.

Amidst the economic hardships and political uncertainties of independence, Lernamerdz Communist Party Secretary Samvel Mirzoyan says, the village began to see socialism as their sole support.
"They say the country has become independent, but from what?" commented villager Azat Barseghyan. "Once we were dependent on Russia, and lived well… [T]oday we depend on the whole world and are struggling to survive."

"The example of Lernamerdz is a good illustration of what great results people’s unity and rallying around a common idea can bring," said Armenian Communist Party First Secretary Ruben Tovmasyan. "The powerful ideology of socialism cannot die. It can retreat for a while, but it is certain to come back and triumph." Communist Party membership in Armenia currently stands at about 18,000 members; the party has no seats in parliament.

The lack of political muscle does little to dissuade these villagers, though. Nearly 15 years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the first toast at birthday and wedding parties here is in honor of Vladimir Lenin. Unlike elsewhere in Armenia, schoolchildren are familiar with communist holidays, and can recite by heart poetry dedicated to the now much-maligned leader of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

And as in Soviet times, November 7, the anniversary of that revolution, remains cause for official celebration, with Communist Party representatives from nearby towns and the party’s national leadership on hand to congratulate villagers.

"Our leader is with us, hurrah!" ring out the cries of villagers applauding a silvery two-ton statue of Lenin that stands in the center of the village. The monument, adorned with a red banner that proclaims "Proletarians of All Countries, Unite!," arrived only in 1997. It is repaired every year to maintain its appearance.

The central government’s enthusiasm for the festivities runs thin, however. Villagers told EurasiaNet that the government had changed the principal of the Lernamerdz school and forbidden children to come to school in red scarves, or to take part in the November 7 celebration. But some still attended.

"The spirit of communism is in this village," commented Sofik Manukyan, second secretary of the Echmiadzin city branch of the Armenian Communist Party.

Even so, that "spirit" has so far done little to improve living conditions for village inhabitants. Unemployment still looms large. Some 150 people have left Lernamerdz in the past few years, said villager Barseghyan. Twenty-three houses have had their doors locked for years, he added.

Nonetheless, optimism for a better life persists. It is all just a matter of time, villagers say.

"When communism returns to Armenia, people will lead a happy life," concluded 41-year-old Rostam Avdalyan. "Everyone will be happy then and the sun will shine brightly."

Carnival of Socialism 10

The Carnival of Socialism #10 was posted on Oct 22. Sorry for the delay - I'm not quite as blogtastic as I used to be.

Carnival Number 10!
This is the tenth Carnival of Socialism and the first subject-specific one. I have had a lot of fun running the Carnival for its first ten issues but feel now that it needs a change of style and pace - so anyone who wants to take over from me should either comment or email camusfan@msn.com.

Cuban Revolution

Cuba has suffered greatly both due to the fall of the Soviet Union and because of the 50 year old US blockade. The US has cut Cuba off from essential supplies including food, raw materials and fossil fuels. Lift the Cuban blockade now! In addition, the 1996 Helms-Burton law (Libertad) has shown the clear interest of the United States in Cuba and beyond. In short, it is naked hegemonic imperialism (the opposite of "spreading democracy"). Some analyses defend the law based on the premise that it is effective in its goal (e.g. imposing hegemonic imperialism)! Nevermind the millions in Cuba who have suffered. Nevermind the thousands who have been fined or detained for having the nerve to do business in or with Cuba.

One aspect of the law is that it punishes people and companies, domestic and foreign, who do business in Cuba in a certain context. More importantly, it is a setup for making "the Island" into a debt prison for the majority of its population. The law demands that "the Island" (this language shows us clearly that sovereignty is not even recognized!) return certain capital property to its former "owners" valued at approximately US$6 billion and pay interest and interest on interest, etc. in perpetuity. Variations of this model is quite effective throughout the third world as implemented by the IMF and World Bank. However, in this case we see that in fact it is a form of collective punishment against the entire "Island" in retaliation for the Revolution.

How long could such an unjust punishment last? Simply look to Haiti for your example. Since the black uprising and establishment of a freed-slave republic in 1804 the Haitian people have been punished by the international community for their hubris. In 1833 France forced Haiti to pay reparations for the revolution, which threw the country into crippling debt. Direct American military intervention began in 1915 and continues to this day. The Cuban people are well aware of this and other histories and understand their fate under neo-liberalism. The Helms-Burton law has destroyed any notion of perestroika occurring in Cuba. Any transition after Castro will very likely be brutal and bloody. It is in this context that the revolution must be maintained!

Nevertheless, the nation has reaped amazing results due to its planned economy focused on providing for human need. Cuba has one of the highest life expectancies in the world (over 70), boasts the best doctor patient ratio in the world, and one of the best teacher student ratios. Socialism Today has published an excellent survey of Cuba and its future without Castro. An excerpt is here:

Millions of working-class people and the poor, particularly in the neo-colonial world and especially in Latin America, are hoping against hope that the predictions of the imminent collapse of Cuba will prove wrong. The Cuban revolution, right from its inception in January 1959, and through its planned economy, gave a glimpse of what was possible for humankind as a whole if the straightjacket of landlordism and capitalism was eliminated. Fidel Castro and Che Guevara were then, and remain today, heroic figures for many workers and youth throughout the world.

If anything, Cuba's reputation has been enhanced when set against the background of the brutal neo-liberal offensive of capitalism worldwide throughout the1990ss and the first part of this century. The achievements in health, housing and education are spectacular when compared to the dismal record of landlordism and capitalism in the neo-colonial world. Even while the bourgeoisie of the world and its hirelings seek to use the illness of Castro as an excuse to pillory Cuba and its revolution, other, more serious, journals of capitalism are compelled torecognizee Cuba's achievements.

For instance, El Pai­s, the Spanish journal, recently outlined Cuba'’s impressive performance in key fields. There are 200,000 teachers in a population of 11.4 million. This means there is a teacher for every 57 people, one of the best ratios of teachers to pupils anywhere in the world, never mind the neo-colonial world. Moreover, following the Pakistan earthquake in 2005, Cuba sent 2,660 doctors and health technicians to help in the worst areas. In six months in Pakistan, they dealt with 1,700,000 patients 73% of those affected by illness and carried out 14,500 operations. In addition to this they offered 1,000 courses to young people from the worst-hit areas to study medicine in Cuba. Thirty-two temporary hospitals were left by the Cuban government to be used by the Pakistani people to combat serious illnesses. Naturally, this raised the profile of support for Cuba in Pakistan. In Indonesia, following the earthquake in May 2006, 135 Cuban health workers attended 100,000 patients. Two hospitals were built and left by the Cubans when the medical expedition left the country. Thirty-six thousand Cuban health professionals and technicians are working in 107 different third-world countries. In addition to this, Venezuela and Cuba have announced a project, "operation milagro"’ (operation miracle), to provide six million Latin Americans with free operations if they cannot afford them over the next ten years. Cuba has also offered 100,000 places in Cuban universities to train Latin American doctors free of charge.

Socialism Today: What will happen after Castro?

Mexico PRD Resistance Continues

AMLO on the move:

Mexico, Oct 12 (Prensa Latina) Leaders of Mexico s PRD (Revolucion Democratica Party) asserted Thursday that the civilian resistance continues united behind opposition leader AMLO (Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador) as legitimate president of Mexico.

Denying the "insidious" rumors that a faction has withdrawn support, PRD spokesman Gerardo Fernandez Noroña said on the contrary, they are firm that AMLO will be declared president on November 20 and that they will try to block the named elect, Felipe Calderon, from swearing-in before Congress on December 1.

He repeated that all of the PRD groups are in consensus with the agreements of September´s National Democratic Convention and that Obrador is the most important leader of the left.

The PRD spokesman also rejected Calderon s recent initiatives and long-term program for development because, "for PRD he will always be a usurper and we will continue actions to combat him with determination."

and...

Mexico, Oct 8 (Prensa Latina) Mexican opposition leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador termed important the peaceful resistance stated last July in Mexico to stop economic and social inequalities.

Lopez Obrador said in Tabasco, as part of a national tour, that the mobilization will continue as part of a fair and vital movement otherwise Mexicans will stay without a defense.

He noted the disparity in per capita distribution of incomes as 90 percent earn less than the minimum and 100 people get fortunes and concentrate national wealth.

He added that misery affects namely the indigenous population marginalized at swamps and mountains and very few know to read and write.

Lopez Obrador finally promised to devote his life to fight for those who have least.

So, many on the right have said (see the Huffington Post) that AMLO is a corrupt liar. If so, what can he possibly gain by taking this route and appealing to the poorest and most politically outcast groups of people in Mexico? Certainly a truely corrupt individual would know better where to get his bread well buttered...

Calderon is a PRI flunky. Yes is supposedly a PAN candidate. But the institutionalize Party of the Institutionalized "Revolution" just simply changed flags and slogans to throw in with the right-wing neo-liberal PAN in a bid to cling to power. Most of these charaters have been in power in Mexico City for decades first as PRI then as PAN. The only difference is that PAN has made them more socially conservative so as to appeal more to the theocratic US government.

AMLO would have brought change and new faces to the federal government. That is why he HAD to loose. The entrenched interests and long and deep ties within the 3rd estate of Mexico linked to the capitalist ruling class was severely threatened, at least in the short term, by such a power shift. Many individuals would have been affected and a lot of corruption would have been uncovered, ruining lives and causing general disruption. Ah, democracy, a nice idea but really such a bother afterall.

Takes More Than Guns to Kill a Man

I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
Alive as you and me.
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" said he,
"I never died" said he.

"In Salt Lake, Joe," says I to him,
him standing by my bed,
"They framed you on a murder charge,"
Says Joe, "But I ain't dead,"
Says Joe, "But I ain't dead."

"The Copper Bosses killed you Joe,
they shot you Joe" says I.
"Takes more than guns to kill a man"
Says Joe "I didn't die"
Says Joe "I didn't die"

And standing there as big as life
and smiling with his eyes.
Says Joe "What they can never kill
went on to organize,
went on to organize"

From San Diego up to Maine,
in every mine and mill,
where working-men defend their rights,
it's there you find Joe Hill,
it's there you find Joe Hill!

I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
alive as you and me.
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" said he,
"I never died" said he.

Joe Hill was an IWW organizer who worked hard to build the union for exploited copper workers in the Western US. He was framed for murder and shot by the state of Utah in 1915. His last words were "Fire!"

On Socialisms

In response to some comments I wanted to clarify a point on what exactly socialism, and specifically Marxist scientific socialism, is. The best way to do this is by looking at the history of the use of the term. Wikipedia has this to offer:

The term "socialism" was first used in the context of early-19th century Western European social critics. In this period, socialism emerged from a diverse array of doctrines and social experiments associated primarily with British and French thinkers—particularly Robert Owen, Charles Fourier, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Louis Blanc, and Saint-Simon. These social critics saw themselves as reacting to the excesses of poverty and inequality in the period, and advocated reforms [and] principles for the reorganization of society along collectivist lines.

Wikipedia: Socialism

Even today there are many definitions of socialism. However there is a common thread. It is simply that socialism involves organizing society and the economy in such a way that places human need and development at the center (as opposed to, for instance, capitalism, where profit is at the center of social and economic activity). This is why anarchists on the one side, and nationalist-populists on the other can sometimes be heard calling themselves socialists. They all strive for a social order that is not governed by capital.

Marxism & Scientific Socialism

Marx in the mid 19th century defined what Engels called "scientific socialism." Marx was quite aware of all the various "utopian" socialist ideas. He was also a student of political economy (which at the time was a new form of economic thought, e.g. Adam Smith). What he was able to do in Capital was to develop a scientific model of capitalism with a scathing critique of political economy (which serves as a scientific apology for the capitalist system) from which it has yet to recover, and offer an alternative.

Many Marxists today essentially follow this concept of scientific socialism. Built on a strong understanding of capitalism, Marxism understands that the heart of capitalism is profit - which is derived from the exploitation of labor, and is the only way to create capital (which is different from capital equipment - those being the means of production). By having a rigorous understanding the material conditions of capitalism is the only way to create a society which does not share the characteristics that lead to capitalism.

We often hear the word "materialism" today as synonymous with "consumerism" or "greed." Marxemphasizedd materialism in his writings on these subjects but it is something completely different. What Marx means by materialism is the scientific definition: that observable events in nature are explained only by natural causes without assuming the existence or non-existence of the supernatural.

This is at the heart of Marxism - the ideas are based on a concrete understanding of the way the actually existing world works and presents a model on how to fix the problems. This is fundamentally different from utopian socialism(s) which ignore reality and instead rely on adeityy or other supernatural force. Marxism is fundamentally materialist and humanist, based on a scientific understanding of political and economic realities and placing Man at the center of the problem and its solution.

Capitalism, Democracy & The Market

Most people who argue against socialism often confuse these three concepts. They often serve as a sort of holy trinity which, as they are all supposedly antithetical to socialism, can be used to shoot down any reasonable arguments for socialism.

Since having silly arguments is boring and unproductive for all involved, I thought it would be useful toclarifyp exactly how these concepts differ from each other.

Democracy - rule by the people; a form of government or governance in which a wide majority of people participate, voting being one of the primary mechanisms. Democracy was first used by the ancient Greeks in 1,200 BC

Market Economy - In general, goods and services are owned and may be exchanged quid pro quo for money or other goods or services. A market does not logically presuppose the existence of "private property in the means of production" in the sense that private individuals or family households are the owners of land and capital and thus the recipients of profits, interest, rent etc. This type of system can be seen to exist in many historical periods on a limited scale, increasing in importance in the 1500s in conjunction with the rise of capitalism (as capitalism relies on private ownership of commodities and their exchange).

Capitalism - A historically specific mode of production in which capital has become the dominant means of production. Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are mostly privately owned, and capital is invested in the production, distribution and other trade of goods and services, for profit. Capital is created via commodity labor, a process unique to capitalism and one which makes capitalism unique and distinct from other economic systems before it. Capitalism is the first economic system under which workers are free to sell their labor on the open market. However, as capitalists control all the means of production, they are not free NOT to sell their labor, as they cannot produce for themselves without owning those means. Capitalism developed in England in the late 1500s.

Socialism Today

There are many types of socialists today. Social Democrats, Maoists and Trotskyites are major currents. I will close this post with a definition of socialists goals derived from the Socialist International's 1989 Declaration of Principles:

Democratic socialism is an international movement for freedom, social justice and solidarity. Its goal is to achieve a peaceful world where these basic values can be enhanced and where each individual can live a meaningful life with the full development of his or her personality and talents and with the guarantee of human and civil rights in a democratic framework of society.

Freedom is the product of both individual and cooperative efforts - the two aspects are parts of a single process. Each person has the right to be free of political coercion and also to the greatest chance to act in pursuit of individual goals and to fulfil personal potential. But that is only possible if humanity as a whole succeeds in its long-standing struggle to master its history and to ensure that no person, class, sex, religion or race becomes the servant of another.

Solidarity is all-encompassing and global. It is the practical expression of common humanity and of the sense of compassion with the victims of injustice. Solidarity is rightly stressed and celebrated by all major humanist traditions. In the present era of unprecedented interdependence between individuals and nations, solidarity gains an enhanced significance since it is imperative for human survival.

Socialists do not claim to possess the blueprint for some final and fixed society which cannot be changed, reformed or further developed. In a movement committed to democratic self-determination there will always be room for creativity since each people and every generation must set its own goals.

The concentration of economic power in few private hands must be replaced by a different order in which each person is entitled - as citizen, consumer or wage-earner - to influence the direction and distribution of production, the shaping of the means of production, and the conditions of working life.

A democratic society must compensate for the defects of even the most responsible market systems. Government must not function simply as the repair shop for the damage brought about by market inadequacies or the uncontrolled application of new technologies. Rather the State must regulate the market in the interests of the people and obtain for all workers the benefits of technology, both in work experience and through the growth of leisure time and meaningful possibilities for individual development.

Declaration of Principles of the Socialist International

As a Trotskyite I have some problems with the underpinnings of the social democratic ideology. In essence it is an ideology with collaborates with capitalism and thereby advocates a dual-power situation which ultimately undermines its other principles. Put simply, how can society achieve the goals of socialism when all the power is concentrated into the hands of the few and the economy is organized around the profit motive?

Nevertheless, the main principles and goals of democratic socialism echo those of all socialists - a desire for true freedom both political and economic, solidarity, world peace and a society based on collective social responsibility for the welfare of all.

HUD to Reopen Public Housing in New Orleans

Read this amazing press release, and then follow the link. We need much more direct action like what these people are doing.

HUD SECRETARY ANNOUNCES ALL PUBLIC HOUSING TO REOPEN IN NEW ORLEANS

In a bold reversal of policy, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that they will reopen public housing in New Orleans and embark on a bold new plan to help former residents get back home.

At The Gulf Coast Reconstruction & Hurricane Preparedness Summit, organized by Equity International (http://www.katrinareconstruction.org), HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson admitted that the agency has been headed down the wrong path
for the last year.

"Our charter, here at HUD, is to ensure access to affordable housing for those who need it the most. This past year in New Orleans, I am ashamed to say that we have clearly failed to do this," said Jackson.

The Yes Men prank HUD re: NOLA Public Housing! Yes!!!! Oh, yes!!!

The Rose and Fist

The rose and fist as a symbol of progress:

In the classic rose and fist representation, red symbolizes the blood spilt by workers the world over in the fight for their emancipation and was directly inherited from the red banner flown at the Paris Commune, the original and hitherto base symbol of the workers' cause. After the 1886 Haymarket Massacre, socialists and trade unionists began wearing red roses or carnations on their lapels to show solidarity with the eight labour leaders who had been convicted of inciting to riot. Four of them were hanged. After this, a red rose was often worn during May Day marches and other socialist events. After World War II the red rose became widely adopted as a symbol of socialism. (adapted from thesocialistring.com).

The rose and the fist is used as a symbol of many Socialist and Social Democratic parties in Europe, including for instance the Socialist Party of France and the Rose in the Fist Party (Rosa nel Pugno) of Italy. In the UK the Socialist Party also uses the rose as a symbol.

Personally, and I think many of my comrades would agree, I preffer the scarlet banner. However, since I also like gardening the fist and rose could have a dual meaning.

Also of interest (to American readers) - the Fist And Rose Tendency of the SPUSA has a blog - check it out: http://fistandrose.blogspot.com/

Challenging Capitalist Chow

Slow Food, Good Food: The Fuel of a United Working Class.

In the Devil’s Garden: Sinful History of Forbidden Food by Stewart Lee Allen, the author examines food taboos throughout history, organizing chapters by the seven deadly sins. Among other topics*, Allen discusses the tendency of a ruling or conquering class to create or reject the proletariat’s eating habits, and rigidly enforce those decisions, in order to maintain the status quo.

In the “Gluttony” chapter, Allen writes:

The practice of criminalizing foods that engender laziness first appeared in the legal code of the seventh-century B.C. Spartan civilization. The Spartans did everything they could to make dinner pure hell. Meals were served in communal mess halls and in portions designed to leave citizens hungry. Their national dish was deliberately revolting “black broth,” made of pork stock, blood vinegar, and salt. Citizens whose generous paunches suggested covert snacking were thrown out of the country. Foreign ambassadors who dined with undue elegance were also expelled. The idea behind this madness, according to Plutarch, was to stop citizens from “spending their lives … laid on costly couches at splendid tables, delivering themselves up to the hands of their tradesmen and cooks, who fatten them in corners like greedy brutes.” The code’s creator, Lycurgus, took his creed so seriously he actually starved himself to death.

It’s a notion that recurs regularly throughout Western history. The nineteenth-century English almost banned the potato for fear it would turn its working class into fornicating hobos [as Allen later points out, the potato also allowed the Irish to grow as a populace, threatening the "British land barrons who controlled Ireland." – Ed.], just as the French aristocrats outlawed soft white bread to ensure a hardy peasantry [and to clearly separate the haves from the have-nots – Ed.]. Modern America has raised this technique to technological perfection; consider, for example, “convenience foods” such as Oscar Meyer’s infamous Sack of Sauce in a Can of Meat and premade chocolate sundaes designed so that the microwave melts the sauce but leaves the ice cream intact. TV dinners. McDonald’s. Despite the technological differences between Modern America and Sparta, the principle of using diet to create an ideal working class is identical. Where the Spartans banished citizens who enjoyed eating, modern American just pays them less – about 7 percent among female workers. Both today’s fast-food outlets and Spartan mess halls are/were designed to discourage lingering over dinner and eliminate the need for people to “waste” their time cooking for the family. And, like the Spartans’ legendarily bad food, many of these convenience foods are so unpleasant they make even work look good. They’re also immensely profitable for the corporation who produce them. Perfect: American workers now pay more money for worse food so they can hurry back to jobs they hate.

You’re here for the Socialism, but bear with me for a moment. Think back to the last time you ate a fast-food French fry: did it taste as good as you imagined it might? Probably not, yet that Platonic French fry ideal keeps us going back for more. If you’re over the age of 18, your meal probably left you with a fast food hang-over: that feeling of a lead balloon sitting in the pit of your stomach, tinged with a mouth-craving for more salty, sweet, and greasy food. If you read Fast Food Nation, or even the South Beach Diet, you know that after eating such food, the body’s blood sugar rapidly rises, then precipitously drops, creating cyclical cravings. (The aroma will get you, too.)

Now, here’s the Socialism: it’s hard to think about the quality of your life, let alone start to do something about it via political change, when you’re mired in thoughts of triple-cheeseburgers and dealing with the health complications resulting from a diet of shakes and fried chicken nuggets. A number of foodie blogs espouse the Slow Food movement from a culinary standpoint. But Slow Food should also be embraced by Socialists (and other progressives) on political grounds. The creation of a good meal, using local, quality ingrediants followed by the sensual pleasure of eating such a meal not only supports local farmers and small businesses, not only provides better nourishment for the body and soul, but allows diners to time to think and talk: necessary elements in changing a power structure.

Tonight, do your body, mind, and politics a favor: cook up good meal. Bon appétit.

---

*Such as the possible reference to Louis XIV’s proclivity toward anal sex with his mistress, Madame du Barry, via her use of “chocolate.” Writes Allen:

When du Barry was repeatedly attacked for using chocolate to around unnatural passions in her lovers, it’s worth remembering that Europeans had originally called chocolate cacao but had changed the name because cacao too closely resembled the word caca, slang for feces. So when French libelles like 1878’s La Comtesse du Barry report that du Barry pulls chocolate out of her rove and ‘the decadent Parisians go crazy with a Roman orgy,’ one can reasonably wonder if this is a discreet reference to some form of anal sex. That is, after all, one of the classical Roman/Greek orgies were celebrated for back then.

Foreign Chains Around Us

A British "journalist" of the tabloid rag The Sun called it a "brutally anti-British film". That was reason enough for me to see Ken Loach's film, The Wind That Shakes The Barley, set in Ireland 1919-23 during the Tan war against the British and the subsequent Irish Civil War. Watch it. Watch it now. Seriously, turn off your computer and roam the streets until you can find a cinema prepared to show it.

Okay, those expected an entirely historically accurate representation of the conflict will be disappointed. Although I'd question using movies to learn history in the first place...

As anyone who has read Ernie O'Malley's On Another Man's Wound and The Singing Flame, on which, I've been told, the film is (very broadly) based, or indeed who has any knowledge of the period, will know, half of the Irish Republican Army were not, in fact, a bunch of raving revolutionary Socialists. The politics of Ireland at the time have been crudely revised by Loach, on account of the director's own, leftish inclinations. Not that it isn't immensely enjoyable to watch Liam Cunningham, playing the trade unionist Dan, recite these words of James Connolly to cellmate Damien (Cillian Murphy):

"If you remove the English army tomorrow and hoist the green flag over Dublin Castle, unless you set about the organisation of the Socialist Republic your efforts would be in vain. England would still rule you. She would rule you through her capitalists, through her landlords, through her financiers, through the whole array of commercial and individualist institutions she has planted in this country and watered with the tears of our mothers and the blood of our martyrs."

Not everyday you see that at the movies.


No, the main selling-point of the film - other than the sheer fun of watching something determined to upset the traditional version of history - is its concentration of the role of British imperialism in Ireland, and the way in which established institutions and the middle classes were exploited by the British Government to undermine and destroy any radical potential of the Irish nationalist movement. Ken Loach has also referred to the film's rather good timing, considering the devastation into which imperialism is plunging the world:

"I don’t need to spell it out, but the wars that we have seen, the occupations that we see throughout the world - people finally cannot turn away from that... Maybe if we start telling the truth about the past, we can start telling the truth about the present."

In short, it's better than watching Snakes On A Plane.

On a final, somewhat humorous note, if you manage to get to watch it, look out for some of the Loach-isms, including: the IRA guerrillas politely warning some Irish police officers to stop their repressive activities, the 'baddies' having no women amongst them and all wearing uniforms (and the 'goodies' who sell out turning in their ragged clothes for some nice uniforms themselves), and the pro-Treaty officer who has a striking similarity to Joseph Goebbels.

See here and here for good reviews of the film.

“Twas hard the woeful words to frame
To break the ties that bound us
But harder still to bear the shame
Of foreign chains around us.”

It's All Gone Wrong

I just saw this on the Alliance for Workers' Liberty site:

The Venezuelan National Guard has repressed a group of striking workers belonging to the UNT in Carabobo state, according to reports on the Aporrea website.

Workers at Alfarería Internacional (International Pottery) had their three-week-old strike broken up on 10 August by the National Guard. Two days before, seven members of the union’s executive were arrested.

Workers are members of the Unión de Trabajadores Procesadores de la Arcilla, Similares y Conexos del Estado Carabobo (Utpasca), part of the National Union of Workers (UNT), the new independent union federation in Venezuela.

The company had introduced 30 scabs to try to break the strike.

Although information is sketchy, it is at least clear that the Venezuelan military has used force to back employers against unionised and militant workers. The UNT in Carabobo is calling for solidarity.

Perhaps Chávez should heed the warning of his hero Simón Bolívar – damned is the soldier that uses force against the people.

If this is true, it is a worrying development.

Richard Gott, author of the excellent Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution, said the following during an interview published on the Venezuela Information Centre: "[Chavez is] not particularly interested in trade unions themselves becoming a significant force." Uh oh.

Gonzalo Gomez, editor of the left-wing Aporrea website, has voiced concern about the potential obstacles to the revolutionary process in Venezuela before. According to the Hands Off Venezuela campaign, "He also said that the Venezuelan government was a popular government but not a government of the workers and the people yet because the bosses were still sacking workers." Does anything more need to be said?

Unfortunately, yes. Too many people overlook the fact that the movement in Venezuela is bigger than Chavez, however impressive and welcome his government's record. The UNT has a far more radical track-record, for instance over demands for factory occupations and workers' control. It is the duty of all Socialists to support them, even when it is inconvenient.

Edit: It seems there is a precedent for this anti-union business. The Venezuelan vice-minister for energy, also the president of a private electricity company, is preparing to break a strike with scab labour - the Chavez government is allegedly content to suppress industrial disputes in the run-up to the presidential election.

Funky Zarathustra

Lebanese blogger Sarah just linked to FoOL and covers the events in Lebanon. Current post excerpt:

I came across several excerpts of Nasrallah's speech in English which were taken out of context. I've attempted a balanced translation below, followed by some notes.

The speech
His speech began by congratulating the Lebanese for what he said was a historic and heroic victory, "without exaggeration". He also saluted the "martyrs" of the party, the army, journalists, civilians...He then described the magnitude of the destruction as the worst Lebanon has witnessed in all its brushes with the Israeli army. He attributed this to an Israeli weakness. Nasrallah also remembered to thank all the sects, parties and families who housed the refugees and supported them. He also promised to pay compensation to the owners of 15000 homes lost completely.

[...]

Nasrallah, I find it hard to acknowledge, also raises a good point regarding the Sheb'a farms and the detainees. It is disappointing a better deal was not brokered which would have left HA with no excuse to remain armed.

But, I disagree with the [assertion] that HA can defend us from Israeli threat. It did not allow their forces a victory but they also did not win--they simply didn't lose. Lebanon lost.

[...]

Funky Zarathustra: Nasrallah's speech lost in translation (hero or villain?)

A Nitche and a "Lost in Translation" reference all on one blog! I guess you could say it is the uberblog. Kudos.

http://funkyzarathustra.blogspot.com/

Hope

Having sold my house today (yippie!) I thought it was safe, from a purely selfish perspective, to repost this, originally from 03-Jun-2006:

I'm sitting here in Geneva at 1:42 AM listening to a bunch of drunken elite @$holes outside my house as they celebrate their college reunion (I live in a very small city in upstate New York which, for the past 150 yrs has had a primary industry consisting of the production of elites). The location of my home and it's condition when I purchased it have given me a wonderful opportunity to experience some of the worst aspects of the material conditions of capital firsthand. Frankly, without this experience I truly believe that I would not have become a Socialist.

Currently, my wife and I are in the process of selling our house. This will allow us to escape the problems we face as we confront the petty bourgeoisie on a daily basis and instead officially join their ranks by moving to a "decent" neighborhood. I am certainly conflicted about all of this but sanction the direction in which we are moving. My primary complaint is that we have fought to maintain our basic civil rights in our current home and have been beaten by the forces of the bourgeoisie, thus being forced to move.

BUT, browsing the net I came across a wonderful article describing a rally in Cuba on May Day 2002. Over 7 million people participated consciously. For me, this is highly encouraging. An excerpt:

More than seven million of Cuba's 11 million people joined in gigantic celebrations on May Day, the largest mobilization ever in the island's history. In Havana alone, 1.2 million rallied. Cuba's May Day demonstrations were the biggest in the world honoring workers on this May first workers' holiday.

Seven million. Whereas I have a few idoits making my life miserable. I have to look at this and understand that the mass of people, when given the opportunity to choose a socialist class conciousness, are able to work together to achieve a collective responsibility to their fellow man and a higher moral standard.

Seven million. There is yet hope for mankind!

More Hot Trot

I couldn't resist! Waxed and taxed in Le France. Maybe Alizee will be her running mate. Read on:

THE French taboo over politicians' private lives has crumbled further with the publication of photographs of Segolene Royal, the left-wing favourite to succeed President Jacques Chirac next spring, on the beach in her bikini.

Ms Royal, who is 53 next month and favourite to win the Socialist nomination later this year, is unlikely to suffer from the flattering first pictures to be published of a female politician in minimal attire.

"She looks like a star on holiday," said the daily Le Parisien in a gushing report on what it called a "sulphurous" breach of privacy.

The Australian: Socialist In a Bikini

Hot Trot

A bit of fun on the lighter side of things, God knows we need it.

The word is, Tommy Sheridan, recent leader of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) has a hot wife. Recently having come through an orgie scandal, Sheridan is not only unscathed but now a minor celebrity, thanks in no small part to his wife. One way or the other, I think we can all agree that Tommy is a stud.

The Times (UK) reports:

Most witnesses trogged into court looking like ugly Trots, but Gail Sheridan looked hot to trot. It is just a little ironic that while her husband is a hard-left socialist, she enters stage right looking less Karl Marx than Karl Lagerfeld.

Tommy Sheridan won a libel action against the News of the World — owned by the same company as this paper — after it accused him of enjoying orgies. His win owed much to Gail’s bravura trial performance. Her every leggy step said: why would my man swing when he can stay on the straight and narrow with me?

Thus crackled a glorious snatch of high summer when nipple clamps and PVC fetish uniforms fleetingly replaced the hammer and sickle as the symbols of socialism; rarely has the nation been quite so entertained, or as educated.

Tommy was astute to put Gail on the stand: ever since the case of Jeff Archer, who was also accused of wandering, this has been clear: a wife is helpful to winning such fights. Mary Archer swung it when the judge declared her “fragrant”. Gail was more: she was foxy. Lady Archer was lampooned later when it emerged Jeff had strayed. Gail, by contrast, stands vindicated as police investigate if 20-odd defence witnesses committed perjury.

It might be thought that socialists aren’t really meant to have wives bestowed with all Gail’s natural riches, but there have always been two schools of socialism: Engels enjoyed champagne, Marx didn’t. HG Wells couldn’t get enough of shagging, George Bernard Shaw could.

The Times: Foxy Gail Shows the Glamorous Face of Socialism

The Real Sides of the Conflict in the Middle East

From Commie Curmudgeon:

The three sources that I’m quoting below are very different in many ways, but they all seem to be echoing the same general idea, one which I hope will spread a little more over the Internet and well beyond it. That idea, to me, amounts to a truthful perspective on the conflict in the Middle East (not so easy to find) and points to the only effective way of opposing or even stopping these atrocities.

From Turn the World Upside Down:

...[T]he two sides in the conflict raging now in Palestine, Israel and Lebanon are:

#1. Ordinary people of all religions and ethnic groups in Palestine/ Israel/ Lebanon who want to live in peace with one another as equals (the opposite of Zionism's Jewish privilege and apartheid). This is the vast majority of people of all ethnic and religious persuasions.

#2. Those who are, or want to be, ruling upper classes, who want inequality, and who want to control ordinary people by setting them against each other along religious/ racial/ ethnic lines as mutual mortal enemies.

From Maxims and Reflections:

People will throw off this shit, nationalities and religions and all the other stickers we put on each other's kids saying it's okay to kill them, and we'll realize that there's only one enemy, the killers. The killers secure our allegiance by pretending to be enemies to each other. But the killers are playing on one team and we are playing on the other and we are losing.

And from the International Communist Current:

If all of capitalism’s peace plans are doomed to fail, what alternative is there to the imperialist disorder that dooms them? Certainly not the various nationalist/religious gangs which claim to be "resisting" imperialism in Palestine, Iraq or Afghanistan - Hamas, the PLO, Hizbollah, al Qaida… They too are entirely caught up in the logic of imperialism, whether striking out on their own or lining up directly with existing capitalist states. Their aims - whether the establishment of new national states or the dream of a pan-Middle East Islamic Caliphate - can only come about through imperialist war; and their methods - which always involve the indiscriminate massacre of the civilian population - are precisely those of the states they claim to be opposing.

The only opposition to imperialism is the resistance of the working class against exploitation, because this alone can grow into an open struggle [against] the capitalist system, a struggle to replace this dying system of profit and war with a society geared towards human need. Because the exploited everywhere have the same interests, the class struggle is international and has no interest in allying with one state against another. Its methods are directly opposed to the aggravation of hatred between ethnic or national groups, because it needs to rally together the proletarians of all nations in a common fight against capital and the state.

We Feel Fine

This is about the coolest farking thing I've seen on the internet yet!

http://www.wefeelfine.org/

Tommy Sheridan Wins Defamation Case

Comrade Tommy Sheridan—who has been subject to lies, smears and innuendo—has won his defamation case against the News of the Screws.

In a statement, outside the court, comrade Sheridan said:

Today's verdict proves working class people can differentiate the truth from the muck.

The working class people on the jury have done a service to the people of Scotland and delivered a message to the standard of journalism the News of the World represents.

They are liars and we have proved they are liars [*].

[*] BBC transciption error corrected.

Drink Soaked Trotskyite: Sheridan Overcomes

Map of Israeli Aggression in Lebanon

Nearly every city and village and Lebanon has been bombed in the last few weeks. Over 900 dead. Who are the terrorists again?

Updates on the Aggression Against Lebanon

Demand Change

The Nation's "Moral Compass" section this week has an inspiring story from a 99 year old American activist, Elsie Fox. An excerpt:

I was a young woman living in Seattle during the Depression of the Thirties. I saw the Crash. I saw the banks close and people losing their jobs and being evicted from their houses. I saw industry stop. I saw the country stop. I saw people go hungry! I saw fear. Fear of hunger is almost as bad as hunger itself. I saw people go without health care. I saw racial discrimination among black people, immigrants, women, and the elderly. I saw unfair labor practices. Does all this sound familiar? President Hoover told us that the benefits of big business would trickle down to the people. Sound familiar?

And what did we, the people, do?

We, the people, marched from one end of this country to the other to demand change.

[...]

That's the way it happened, folks. We did it then; you can do it now!

The Nation: Take Back Our Country

As socialists, activists and progressives we do well to continue to hearken to Elsie's call. Despite the forces arrayed against us today, we must remember that the same forces were in power and just as strong generations ago and they were defeated, at least for a time, and can be defeated again. The fact that reactionaries continues to resurface proves the need for permanent revolution - a revolution both political and personal which fights for democracy, egalitarianism and equality.

The Yellow Beast

What if this happened in 2004?

An estimated 1.2 million people poured into Mexico City's central square in another show of force by backers of leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who want a recount in the July 2 election that gave a narrow victory to conservative Felipe Calderon.

Sydney Morning Herald: 1.2m Now That's a Protest

Mass protests and legal challenges continue to undermine the already tenuous legitmacy of Calderon's claim to victory. Perhaps we will see the rightful victory of ALMO afterall. In other news, the Zapitistas call for a revolutionary overthrow of the entire system as the only way to achieve true social change for the benifit of the proletariat.

First Labour Union Formed at Chinese Wal-Mart Store

Illustration from DesignWorks

From the AP, via KFSM:

BEIJING -- An official Chinese news agency says the first labor union at a Wal-Mart store in China has been formed following a lobbying campaign by the country's official union group. The official Xinhua News Agency reported today that 30 employees at a Wal-Mart store in the southeastern city of Quanzhou, in Fujian province, voted Saturday to form a union.

The news agency said a 29-year-old employee named Ke Yunlong was elected chairman of its seven-member committee.

The official All-China Federation of Trade Unions has been lobbying Wal-Mart tores Inc. for two years to organize employees of its 60 stores in China. The federation had accused the company of obstructing its efforts.

Wal-Mart opened its first Chinese outlet in 1996 and says it has 28,000 employees in China. It says it plans to add 18 to 20 stores on the mainland this year. Phone calls today to Wal-Mart's China headquarters in the southern city of Shenzhen weren't answered.

Conmemoró de Salvador Allende

"El Partido Socialista conmemoró el lunes 26 los 98 años del nacimiento del ex Presidente Salvador Allende. El acto -al que asistieron unas 200 personas- se realizó ante el monumento al ex Mandatario en la Plaza de la Constitución.

La ceremonia se inició con la lectura de una carta de quienes integraron el GAP y finalizó con un breve discurso del presidente del PS, senador Camilo Escalona, quien destacó la consecuencia política de Allende el 11 de septiembre de 1973, prefiriendo el suicidio a rendirse al ataque militar. Por otra parte, el timonel del PC, Guillermo Teillier, admitió ayer que su tienda no supo defender el Gobierno de Allende, tras ser “derrotados por la intervención norteamericana y por la oligarquía de nuestro país”.

Portal del Socialismo Chileno: Salvador Allende

IRAs Enable the "Ownership Society"

The American Spectator has a "compelling" article on how American free market capitalism actually reduces racism. Some highlights below:

[...]
We saw the marginalizing effects of socialism with the favoritism shown to Great Russians in the Soviet Union. We see it again today in France, Europe's grandest exponent of continental socialism, its cities in flames because of the lack of economic opportunity exacerbated by race discrimination that is in turn enabled by its stratified and heavily regulated economy. Ireland, Europe's most market oriented economy, has no such issues.
[...]
The American Spectator: Capitalism, Socialism and Race

It is interesting that the only IRA the American Spectator (AS) seems to be aware of is the one that involves stock market equities. Indeed, it boggles the mind to see that the AS is holding up Ireland as an example of racial peace in Europe! Perhaps they think that Fox News has us all too worried about those swarthy Muslims to remember the sad saga of class driven race violence that has wracked Erie for over 100 years.

And sorry AS, the USA is not less racist than European societies and it certainly does not owe any of the dubious progress that it has made to capitalism! Today in America, among males age 25 to 29, 12.6% of blacks were in prison or jail, compared to 3.6% of Hispanics and about 1.7% of whites (from a 2004 report on the US DOJ website, also see comments and thank you for the corrections). In addition, nearly every black political leader in America has been assassinated or discredited due to the effects of institutionalized racism.

This magazine and other publications like it are examples of why it is so very important for socialists and progressives to fight to gain access to the public debate. If we do not, this sort of pseudo-journalism filled with lies and distortion will define the terrain of human thought and continue to destroy our world.

A socialist perspective gives us the context, intellectual honesty and political bravery to fight racism by addressing its root cause - capitalism.

Carnival of Socialism #7

Presenting the Carnival of Socialism #7. This edition is presented under the clouds of expanding war in the Middle East. Not surprisingly, there has been a lot of discussion of current events in socialist circles.

Humantide starts us off with an article written just before the war in Lebanon started titled Neo-Con Dreams in Ashes as War Looms in Lebanon. In this post, the global neo-con project is called into question. Eli over at Left I on the News drops some analysis on the TV Coverage of the War. Jason Miller reminds us that loyalty to nationalism is a dead end which leads to the slaughter we are currently seeing in Palestine and Lebanon. His article over at Tom Paine's Corner is titled Betrayal of the Empire or Fealty to Humanity? Andrew Rihn at And Time Yet for a Hundred Indecisions posted some comments from Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela regarding the wars in the Middle East titled Chavez Speaks. Hot off the presses for Monday, Louis Proyect The Unrepentant Marxist brings us an update on the Zionist project with the apropos title WWIII.

In other news, Jim Jay covers the latest outcomes of the G8 Summit in Leningrad (oh yeah, I mean St. Petersburg). The title of his article How free is the market? at The Daily (Maybe). Dave Semple from the blog you are currently reading Fruits of Our Labour posted an article on the sad state of money influence in British politics titled Exposing the Money Game in British Politics. Ashik Malla from United We Blog! for a Democratic Nepal posted an analysis of the current political situation after the historic revolution this spring titled Spring Thunder In Nepal...Glorious but Inconclusive.

We also have some contributions from a more theoretical perspective. Kevin Carson at Mutualist Blog posted an article on professionalism titled Professionalism as Legitimizing Ideology. Delta at Freethought Weekly delves into economics with the post On the Notion of Property.

Finally on the lighter side, we have two more contributions. Donald at thesharpener has a post on the politics of game shows titled Ant and Dec's Proletarian Poke in the Face. And Dave over at The Red Mantis posted his version of the Top 15 Socialist Rock Songs in response to the silly National Review article.

Finally, I hope folks enjoy my GIMP creation for the carnival. I took the photo several weeks ago in a famous store in Times Square. I GIMPed out the original logo within the star, changed the color to red and added the hammer and sickle. Hope you like it! There is a smaller version on the left which I used to link to the main CoS web site. Of course it is in the public domain covered by a Creative Commons license (see the bottom of the page for details).

Call for Articles

Sunday July 23rd will see the next edition of the Carnival of Socialism here on FoOL. I have received a handful of articles thus far and am asking that all interested parties submit new or existing articles or posts for inclusion in the next edition. Please make your submissions via this link: Carnival of Socialism HQ

Alternately you may e-mail me submissions at ReasonInRevolt@gmail.com

What is to be Done?

Israel's disgusting and massively disproportionate assault on all its neighbors must be universally condemed. From the Peak Oil site:

[...]
Lebanon is mired in a terrifying labyrinth of death and destruction. Beirut's airport is bombed. Israel has imposed a sea blockade. Other than privileged Westerners who are being evacuated by air or sea, people have overnight become refugees. They are plunged into an exodus of hundreds of thousands crammed on rickety rural trucks, overcrowded buses, Red Crescent convoys and even Mercedes with Saudi license plates on a mad dash through Lebanese back roads to Syria.

Israel's lethal bombing is ubiquitous - raining hell over family homes in the Bekaa Valley, over the Liban Lait milk factory on the road to Baalbek, over a Greek Orthodox church, over civilian trucks carrying rice and sugar near the Christian village of Zaleh, over a civil-defense building in Tyre, over a paper mill, over a packaging firm, over a pharmaceutical plant, over the Lake Qaraoun dam, over bridges, water reservoirs, electric plants, gas stations, ambulances, even over Beirut's main Christian neighborhood.

Peak Oil: Lebanon Left for Dead
Information Clearing House: Uncensored photos from Lebanon

To quote V Lenin, "What is to be done?" The CWI's Kevin Simpson has released an extensive analysis on this topic with the following conclusions:

[...]
Undoubtedly the prospect of further conflict and war fills workers and young people around the world and particularly in the Middle East with dread because of the terrible suffering it could mean. However, capitalist wars and conflict will see further working class struggles against privatisation and attacks on workers living standards which have already taken place in countries like Iran, Egypt and Israel. Such movements will come to the fore again but with a different consciousness – one that is imbued with a desire for an end to bloodshed and a new society where the mass of the population control the huge wealth that exists in the region.

This perspective is based on historical experience. At the height of the internecine Lebanese Civil War in 1988, Lebanese workers across the sectarian divide took strike action against the collapse in the value of the minimum wage as a result of the galloping inflation caused by the conflict. Along the "green line", which divided Christian and Muslim Beirut, joint demonstrations took place on this issue. During the same period between half and one million Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv against the IDF invasion in Lebanon.

However, socialists and activists cannot simply sit back and wait for these developments in the future. A movement for revolutionary socialist change needs to be built, as a matter of urgency, across the region.

• No to the mass terror of the Israeli regime against the Lebanese people. End the bombing of Lebanon. Build mass international opposition to ‘collective punishment’ of the Lebanese people
• For the right of the Lebanese working class and poor peasantry to defend themselves against Israeli state aggression. No to indiscriminate bombing and shelling of civilian areas. For the setting up of cross-community, armed defence committees under the democratic control of the Lebanese masses. No to the concept of collective punishment of innocent civilians
• Release all political prisoners and captives. All imperialist forces out of the region
• For a mass movement of Arab and Palestinian workers, poor peasants and young people to overthrow the capitalist system which breeds war, poverty, mass unemployment and neo-liberal attacks in the Middle East. For a socialist confederation of Arab states based on a democratically planned economy, under workers’ control and management
• For a mass movement of Israeli Jewish workers to overthrow the Israeli capitalist regime which means endless wars and attacks on living standards. For a socialist Palestine and socialist Israel as part of a socialist confederation of the Middle East in which workers and poor peasants and not corrupt leaders will decide how society is run and where the national, religious and ethnic rights of all minorities will be guaranteed

Socialist Alternative: Israeli regime’s air invasion of Lebanon

European Left: To Stop Israel, To Work For Peace

The EL issued this statement on the 14th:

The Party of the European Left expresses its firmest condemnation of the ongoing military attacks and the now started war by Israel on Lebanon.

Destroying civil infrastructures, killing innocent people and putting the whole Middle East region on the brick of war is by no way an acceptable reaction to the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers - being only a pretext for the military aggression. This [action] clearly violates international law.

The EU having been [one-sided] during all these years to the Palestinian issue and with its silence only encouraging Israel [to go] ahead with its current policy, has now to take full responsibility for bringing about an immediate cease-fire and stopping the Israeli aggression on Lebanon and Gaza.

It is [high time] to change this attitude and to make a serious effort for a restart of the peace process. It is even more clear today: Europe and the EU can no longer ignore its political responsibility for guaranteeing peace to all people in the Middle East region.

Therefore the EL calls on the EU authorities and all European governments to act respectively in the scheduled meeting of the UN Security Council.

The European Parliament and all the political groups and parties have to take control over the next steps of the EU General Council and commission towards immediate ending the war and taking away the reasons for the permanent restarting of the spiral of violence in Palestine: Israel’s occupation and settlement policy [read Zionism kids! - RiR].

We, the European Left call on all democratic forces to mobilize in these days for peace and against war.

Tavira – Brussels, 14 July, 2006

Peace for all! An end to the bloodshed wrought by Zionism, a system that is aggresion by design!

2005 German Socialist Victory Anniversary

It is the one year anniversary of the Left Party victory in Germany. From Wikipedia:

In 2005 the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) formed an electoral alliance the Labor and Social Justice Party (WASG), a leftist faction of dissident Social Democrats and trade unionists, with the merged list being called the Left Party. In the 2005 federal election the Left Party received 8.7% of the nationwide vote and won 54 seats in the German Bundestag.

Wikipedia: Left Party Germany

The CWI is active in the WASG and has fielded several Trotskyist candidates through WASG.

However, when the WASG was set up last year, the party agreed not to participate in any coalitions or governments that carried out social cuts and privatizations. But the leadership is now proposing a merger with the PDS, which has taken part in regional coalition governments with the SPD in Berlin and elsewhere that have carried out major attacks on the working class. The PDS in Berlin has already declared that it intends to continue in a coalition with the SPD.

Justice: Fighting for Socialist Ideals Worldwide

Nevertheless, I think it is a wonderful and encouraging thing to see a socialistic party winning significant representation within a major capitalist power.

Populism?

Blogger k-punk gave a very good response in a recent debate on populism including Bat at Lenin's Tomb, Jon at Posthegemonic Musings, Le Colonel Chabert and Kenneth Rufo at Ghost in the Wire:

[...]

Defences of populism typically trade on an equivocation between populism and the popular. But as I argued in the last post, an unpopular populism is not only conceivable, it is the form which Capitalist post-politics takes in both Britain and the US at the moment. Conversely, and this is crucial, popular movements are not necessarily populist. Populism is, rather, the entrapment of popular movements within an already-existing representation. The masses are invited to rally under an ready-made image of themselves arising from lowest-common-denominator thinking. So my problem with populism is not, as Kenneth Rufo suggests, that it is not 'popusist enough' but that it has too little faith in the ways in which popular movements can exceed the circumscribed horizons of the populist.

It is not the demand itself which is characteristic of populism. It is stopping with the demand (and/or its satisfaction). All of which is why I don't have any problems with Bat's rather elegant overturning of situationist wisdom in the following passage:

'Here I'd suggest that the answer lies in the direct converse to the famous (and eminently hysterical) situationist graffito "Be realistic, demand the impossible!". Rather than formulate realistic but impossible demands, our "demands" must be unrealistic but nevertheless possible. And moreover they should be addressed diagonally, ie to both the ruling elite and the popular movement simultaneously, or more precisely, they should formally pose a demand addressed to the elite, but actually raise a slogan that engages and resonates with the movement – mobilising it and thereby subjectivating it from within.'

k-punk: Left hyperstition 2- Be Unrealistic, Change What's Possible

The main dialectic of the debate revolved around whether populism is pro-fascist or proto-communist. I would argue that it is neither and both. populism is an expression of grassroots political power. It can evolve in many directions. Both fascism and communism are possible outcomes, as history shows us. Is populism on the measure a force of progress or reaction? It is the project of the revolutionary vanguard to ensure that it is the former.

Wal-Mart On the Decline

From TPM House of Labour, check this out:

[...]
Even more to the point, the number of regular shoppers at Wal-Mart has fallen significantly. At the beginning of 2005, 69% of the population shopped at the company at least once or twice a month. That dropped to 51% by November.

Here's the shocking finding-- progressives have been able to create a significant shift in public opinion and shopping habits, a testament to the strong coalitions built in the last year.

Wal-Mart Loosing the PR War

Intifada, Intifada!

Basically, I have come to the understanding that Israel is totally in the wrong with regards to its treatment of Palestinians. It shocks me that it has taken so long.

A long time friend of mine, Daniel McGowan, asked me for help with his web site Deir Yassin Remembered about 12 years ago. I designed a nice site for him and put up all the content. I thought it was cool that Casey Kasem of American Top 40 fame was a Palestinian.

Over the years I've read about what was going on in Palestine and the various scenarios to "fix" the "problem." I learned about Zionism and its problems. I watched as the US began its massive anti-Muslim campaign. I followed Rachael Corrie's story and read her writings.

Not until Socialism 2006 during a rally where we chanted "Intifada! Intifada!" in response to the horrible treatment of the Palestinians by the world community as punishment for their electing Hamas (go democracy!) did I come to the political position in favor of Intifada and against Zionism.

Even during the chant I felt uneasy and nervous, seditious I suppose. But when I thought about the thousands who die each year because of their national identity, and I looked into the faces of those around me, it made me think of the Phil Ochs line from Day of Decision "You can do what's right, or you can do what you are told." Zionism is wrong and is killing innocent people - standing up against it is the right thing to do. Even by bourgeois standards what is happening in Palestine is wrong and evil. Collective punishment of civilian populations is against UN law.

As socialists we cannot be in favor of the reactionary politics of Hamas, Hezbollah or any other theocratic movements (Islamist, Christian or other). We are however compelled to recognize that the reason that regular Palestinians voted for Hamas is because of the genocide being visited upon them by Israel and the neo-liberal agenda. What is necessary is working-class solidarity of Israelis and Palestinians to overthrow the racist nationalism on both sides of the "security wall" and the establishment of a socialist democracy that protects the rights of all people, eradicating race hatred.

One of my favorite bloggers, BionicOc had this to say in a somewhat recent post:

[...]
The ongoing global abandonment of an occupied, brutalized people, the utterly disingenuous scapegoating of Hamas as the source of the current untenable situation, and most of all the deeply racist characterization of Palestinians as a pariah people devoted to the infamous 'cult of death', dedicated to the extermination of Jews, and the primary authors of their own misfortune: these are crimes in which we may be complicit or against which we can fight. There is no neutral position. Victory to the Intifada.

Bionic Octopus: Happy Catastrophemas

All are highly encouraged to read BionicOc's entire excellent post.

I will close with a definition:

Intifada: انتفاضة : Arabic word stands for shaking off or shivering because of fear or illness. It also means abrupt and sudden waking up from sleep or unconcerned status. Politically; The word came to symbolise the Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation. The word also stands for the weakness of the Palestinian people and their suffering under the Israeli occupation

Mexico Election Corruption

The Texas Observer on June 30, obviously before the Mexican election "results" were announced ran an excellent piece on the election spectacle that has been going on. John Ross detailed an amazing number of dirty tricks, media manipulation and outright corruption used by the PAN to engineer their victory.

The New York Times last week ran stories talking about the "victory" for PAN candidate Felipe Calderón and even parroted the rhetoric of "healing the nation" and accepting the results and just "letting everyone move on."

Do the journalists at the Times really think that the bourgeois Mexicans who would vote for PAN have any way to fairly out vote the vast majority of Mexicans who are poor or working class (70 million below the poverty line) who would vote for PDR candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador (ALMO)?

Do they forget that in 1988 PDR presidential candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas had multiple assistants assasinated? That after the election over 500 PDR activists and elected officials were murdered?

Perhaps they do not forget, maybe they never knew and they are lazy and only print press releases from PAN as if it were investigative journalism. Or maybe they do know but wish to cover up inconvenient truths.

The PAN and conservative parties around the world (Austarlia comes to mind) are all working hand-in-hand with the neo-con/neo-liberals whatever you want to call them in Washington and using the exact same techniques to gain and maintain power.

John Ross writes:

[...]

Not long ago we stood on the edge of Mexico City’s great plaza, the Zócalo, as the debate was about to begin. We eyed the dark thunderheads pushing up from south of the city. “Ojalá compañero,” sighed Luis, “It doesn’t happen again.”

Texas Observer: Deja vu in the D.F.

Unfortunately it has happened again. For instance, yesterday the copper giant Grupo Mexico fired ALL of its workers at La Caridad in order to break up a strike, no doubt feeling they have the green-light from PAN. Hopefully the end results this time around will be far less bloody and perhaps even justice will be served.

Tags: Mexico, election, fraud, corruption

Alice Cooper's Most Famous Line?

The Nation is running an obit of Frank Zeidler, 93, who served three terms as the Socialist (Socialist Party) mayor of Milwaukee, from 1948 to 1960.

John Nichols writes:

[...]

"Socialism as we attempted to practice it here believes that people working together for a common good can produce a greater benefit both for society and for the individual than can a society in which everyone is shrewdly seeking their own self-interest," Zeidler told me in an interview several years ago. "And I think our record remains one of many more successes than failures."

On a Friday afternoon in the spring of 1999, the contribution that Zeidler made to Milwaukee and to the world was honored by people who well understood the significance of what this American socialist did and what he continued to do as someone whose activism slowed only slightly as he passed through his 80s and into his 90s.

The Nation: The Last of the "Sewer Socialists"

Despite the horrible title (the Nation has to make sure no one thinks they are Socialists I guess), the obituary is very good, positive and gives both an excellent historical and personal perspective on the life of a man who "kept the red flag flying" in the US.

Some will remember that his tenure is immortalized in pop culture via the following exchange from Wayne's World:

Wayne Campbell: So, do you come to Milwaukee often?
Alice Cooper: Well, I'm a regular visitor here, but Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors. The French missionaries and explorers began visiting here in the late 16th century.
Pete: Hey, isn't "Milwaukee" an Indian name?
Alice Cooper: Yes, Pete, it is. In fact, it was originally an Algonquin term meaning "the good land."
Wayne Campbell: I was not aware of that.
Alice Cooper: I think one of the most interesting things about Milwaukee is that it's the only American city to elect three Socialist mayors.
Wayne Campbell: [to the camera] Does this guy know how to party or what?

In any case, whatever the intention of the script writers, when the red flag is flying again over Milwaukee and the entire world, history may look back and consider this to be Alice Cooper's most famous line.

A Spectre Haunts Columbia / Socialism 2006

A spectre haunts Columbia University, and the spectre is socialism!


This sister was very energetic during the rallies, as you can see.


Comrades raising their fists in solidarity, note the smiles.


This brother was on his feet the entire time and sparked the crowd.


Comrades dancing and chanting after singing the Internationale.

Fight to Build a Progressive Media Alternative

This is an elaboration of a point I made on the comment page for a post on Union-Firms-Markets titled "Losing Hearts & Minds or Lack of Political Power."

The premise of the post is that the right is able to take over any debate and turn it to their own ends. The conclusion seemed to be that the left will continue to loose group by defending so-called failed social programs that came out of the New Deal.

I disagree. We fight for and defend these programs because they are good and have good material results for the masses and the poor. We are good people, and we fight to defend programs which bring good into the world. To cede more ground to the right is defeatist and counter-revolutionary.

We must understand that the "debate" that happens on television, in the newspapers, radio and all other mass media is simply the sound of one hand clapping. It is, in the words of Guy Debord in Society of the Spectacle:

1:13

[The spectacle's] means are simultaneously its ends. It is the sun which never sets over the empire of modern passivity. It covers the entire surface of the world and bathes endlessly in its own glory.

Therefore the project of progressives must be to develop a counter cultural media. We must educate people to simultaneously divorce themselves (as much as possible) from the media spectacle AND develop an informed critical eye of the spectacle so as to read between lines. Understanding what is omitted or maligned from within the media torrent reveals what the ruling classes fear the most - namely, a socialist working class consciousness.

The media spectacle omits, distorts, retards and alienates. Its purpose is to keep us afraid, weak, unorganized and alienated from each other, in our social relationships, our personal relationships and even in our relationships with our own bodies and minds. It teaches us to hate and fear and to feel disempowered.

It is clear from the history of the mass media and especially the internet media sphere including the blogosphere that another media is possible - one that does not conform to Marx's declaration that (in the German Ideology, 1845): "[the ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas]."

Like our brothers and sisters in previous "epochs" we must today build a true alternative to the mass media and introduce the ideas of the working class to the broadest possible audiences. The fascists of all classes know this, it is time progressives learn it as well for the stakes are indeed very high.

Social Prevention Better Than Prosthelytizing

On Wednesday, July 5th, the New York Times ran a story by Jessica Kowal titled "Homeless Alcoholics Receive a Permanent Place to Live, and Drink," covering a program in Seattle which provides living space for homeless alcoholics. This program allows residents to live in the home without any strings attached, for instance, they do not have to go to church or AA meetings as a condition, nor do they have to stop drinking.

Many of the residents are chronic drunks, people who have been known to "beg, drink, urinate or vomit" in public. Conservatives have called the program "Bunks for drunks - [...] a living monument to failed social policy." Interesting choice of words. I would argue that chronic alcoholism is a living monument to a failed society - that is a society based on capitalism which creates the alinated conditions of existance that lead many to turn to alcohol as a solution - a solution which is all to available for all strata of society.

The Seattle program is based on a "housing first" philosophy which meets the essential material needs of people, such as housing, food and saftey, instead of trying to prosthelytize them as a starting point. This makes sense. Even management gurus such as Abraham Maslow tell us that biological (e.g. material) needs must be met first before people can begin to develop self-actualization needs such as spirituality. Maslow's "Heirarchy of Needs" was developed in the 1940s based on extensive scientific research, and correlates with the materialism analysis Marx made of society in general 50 years earlier.

The evidence is clear in this specific case as well. The program costs $13,000 per year for each resident. In 2003, Seattle tax payers paid over $50,000 for each resident for shelters and emergency room treatment, among other things. This as a direct result of the homeless having to live on the streets which inevitably leads them to far more dangerous situations. Not only that, but street living creates the material conditions for a particular type of individual conciousness which is highly alienating and abusive and invariably leads to more alcoholism or worse.

As socialists we should hail the Seattle program as a scientific step in the right direction. Giving people the fundamental foundations to rebuild their lives is essential to improving their lives and society as a whole. Giving people the proper material living conditions - food, shelter and medical - is the first step to reintegrating them into society. At the same time the streets of the urban landscape feel safer and more welcoming. This is a sharp contract with the so-called conservative position that people must sink or swim, and if they want any charity at all they must minimally pay lip-service to some sort of belief system.

Carnival of Socialism

Fruits of Our Labour will be hosting the 7th Carnival of Socialism coming this Sunday, July 23rd. This week's 6th Carnival of Socialism is hosted at the Red Baron.

The main site for the Carnival of Socialism contains links to previous carnivals, how to submit posts to be included, and how to get involved with spreading the good word of socialism through the blogging medium.

4th of July

Dave at the Red Mantis put up this post relative to patriotism and the Fourth of July. Here is a snippet:

However, I wish to offer this thesis: Patriotism and nationalism are two separate ideals, the latter being the more extreme and subsequently more dangerous of the two. Nationalism should be rejected by American citizens whereas we ought to embrace and reclaim the true definition of patriotism.

[...]

[Patriotism is] to simply be thankful that we live in a nation where as a citizen you have inherent rights, is patriotism. Patriotism isn't completely identifying yourself with your country, nor is it to pledge undying loyalty to it's leaders or decisions, nor is it the willingness to give your life for it. It's simply to be thankful that you live in a place where you have some degree of freedom and rights inherent to you as a human being.

The Red Mantis: On Patriotism; or Happy Fourth of July!

I agree with Dave that we should all be very thankful for any freedoms and liberties we may possess. We should also be thankful that the democratic revolution that happened in America in 1776 was a watershed moment in world history, ushering in the age of democracy. However, patriotism is indeed an expression of nationalism.

As socialists it is very important to understand how patriotism contrasts with internationalism. In 1914, Mary Marcy wrote the famous words "You Have No Country!" This was in an article for the International Socialist Review (ISR) titled "The Real Fatherland" from which the following passages are gleaned:

Patriotism means the love of the land in which you were born — that and nothing more. And why should you love that land any more than any other?

[...]

The land of your birth has done nothing for you. Conditions in Germany, France, Austria, England, Russia, and America are practically the same. Everywhere you
will find the workers earning barely enough to live on. Everywhere you will find thousands of men hunting jobs and no jobs. Everywhere you will find the rich protected and the poor driven out.

You have no country! Every national flag in the world means protection for the employing class, who appropriate the things produced by the workers. It has no message for those who toil.

There is only one flag worth fighting for and that is the red flag, which means universal brotherhood of the workers of the world in their fight to abolish the profit system.

[...]

This is the real Fatherland and this is Socialism!

Mary Marcy, The Real Fatherland

So we should be sure to enjoy the good feelings we get when we feel patriotic but more importantly extend them in brotherhood to all citizens of the world. The celebration must be about what makes us similar and brings us together, not about defining what makes us different, better or stronger than others. Happy 4th of July!

Socialism 2006 Media, Ed. 1

Attached is a video of part of Lynn Stewart's speak at Socialism 2006. I found this part particularly interesting. She was talking about the recent arrest of 7 Middle Eastern men in Florida and linking it with past attempts to smear folks who do not agree with the Government.

http://redstandard.org/reasoninrevolt/Home_Grown.mpg

AdWords for Socialism!

I have recently added a "donate" link to my blog and want to explain why. I have been experimenting with Google AdWords as a way to put socialist "text ads" into rotation. I have noticed that when one does a search for "socialism" or "Marxism" on Google, Technorati or any of the search engines you get a lot of anti-socialist propaganda.

I see this as an utter failure of socialist agitprop and wanted to see what options there are to combat this misinformation. I have a lot of experience building and marketing web sites with over 300 projects under my belt. Therefore I have used various labor based methods to get this site into the search engines. But my AdWords experiment has been by far the most successful. AdWords puts "text ads" onto Google searchs and onto "content providers" sites who participate in the network.

Here are the results of 1 week of using AdWords to promote socialism (and the link of course comes to this blog):

• 41,568 IMPRESSIONS
• 45 CLICK-THRUS
• $14.10
  

Of course I cannot afford to spend $15 a week on this by myself so for now will reduce my spend rate per day until (if) any donations come in.

But this is an excellent lesson for socialist organizations that a low cost way to promote their sites and spread positive messages about socialism exists and should be taken advantage of immediately.